


Every Second is Precious With You

by orphan_account



Category: N.Flying (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Blushing, Hybrid AU, M/M, being awkward, cat hybrid cha hoon, catboy cha hoon, dog hybrid kim jaehyun, hweseung is a bird hybrid btw, my puppy :'), robin in particular, seunghyub's a normie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21568219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The college band plus cat hybrid Hun au I've been aching for. Because if nobody has done it, you gotta do it yourself.Essentially just bits of things that happen in this funny little au I've created in my brain, with a little bit of a plot.Summary of the 1st chapter: Hun tries playing bass guitar, Hun and Jaehyun agree to revive Seunghyub's band, Hun meets a stranger on a rainy day.
Relationships: Cha Hoon/Lee Seunghyub | J.DON
Comments: 10
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a new n.fia so i apologize if any of this seems out of line for what ppl typically peg their characters to be. My intention while writing this was to have it be non-shippy and just Hun focused, but now it's Hun focused and also shippy whoops. please let me know if you would be interested in more! and feel free to follow me on twitter @shininshownu if you wanna talk about this fic [i do not talk about kpop fics publicly on my tl, but feel free to dm me] or just talk about n.flying (need me some n.fia mutuals ;o;)

Hun’s particular reason for not playing bass guitar often is that it puts him to sleep. The vibrations are just deep enough to feel like purring, so if Hun plays for more than ten minutes, he’ll start to get drowsy. The pads of his fingertips flick the G string and the sound rumbles through his body. Damn, why does that feel so nice? The bass problem is only one of many strange dilemmas Hun has, being a human-feline hybrid. Sometimes his tongue sticks out and he forgets to put it back in his mouth. 

“Hun? Hey, Hun!” 

Hun’s eyes shoot open at the sound of Seunghyub’s voice. Hun’s fingers have stopped moving, and the rest of the band is staring at him. 

“I told you having Hun play the bass is a bad idea. There’s no way he could last if we went out busking with this setup,” Jaehyun says from behind the drum set. One of his floppy brown dog ears is flipped over, exposing the lighter skin beneath. 

Hun narrows his eyes. “Well, sor-ry that my feline traits make me a liability. Not all of us are blessed with puppy-cuteness. Next time we perform, I’m gonna chuck your drumsticks halfway across the city.”

“C’mon dude, what the fuck,” Jaehyun whines.

“I mean, the fangirls really loved it when you guys played fetch during Hot Potato that one time,” Hweseung chirps.

“Cool it, guys,” Seunghyub says, “there’s a quick fix to this.” He unstraps his guitar and holds it out to Hun. “Let’s just swap.” 

Hun can feel his ears start twitching. He tightens his grip on the bass’s neck. “We don’t have to, I can do it.”

“No need to be stubborn, dude, it’s okay. I’ll take the bass and you can go back to lead,” Seunghyub has this stupid sense for when Hun is bluffing and Hun kind of hates it. “We’ll have to get a designated bassist someday, but it’s not fair to make you switch, especially when it makes you— like that.” 

“Like what?”

Seunghyub’s face gets a little pink. The hand holding the guitar reverts back to his side and he runs a hand through his brown hair. “Uh, you probably don’t know ‘cause your eyes are closed when it happens, but you get kind of marshmallow-y?”

Hun lifts an eyebrow. “Marshmallow-y?

Jaehyun snorts and Hweseung lifts one feathery hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“Yeah, like you start swaying more than usual and you just seem really happy?”  
“Soft,” Hweseung says, “He means you get really soft.” 

“Oh,” Hun says. He swings the bass off his body and holds it out to Seunghyub. “That would ruin my image.” 

Seunghyub doesn’t confirm or deny, but he avoids Hun’s eyes and takes the bass, passing Hun the guitar. 

🐾

As much as Hun and Jaehyun bicker occasionally, the dog-cat aversion has never really applied to them. Hun thinks it’s probably because they grew up together, because dog hybrid strangers still make him feel prickly. Admittedly, Hun and Jaehyun do play up the stereotypical dynamic for their handful of fans. Makes shows a little more fun. 

It’s partly Jaehyun’s fault that they are in a band together in the first place. After spending their first year at university just going to class and trying to build a YouTube following filming purely snack tasting videos, Jaehyun busted into their shared apartment two weeks into their second school year with a tall guy sheepishly following behind him.

“Dude, oh my god, this is so sad! Meet Seunghyub hyung—he’s a third year. He used to be in a band but all his bandmates graduated last year. Isn’t that so sad dude? He’s a vocalist so I told him I’d play the drums and you can do guitar, isn’t that great?” Jaehyun doesn’t seem to have taken a breath the entire time he says this, babbling on.

“Hold it, hold it. Slow down, Jaehyun. Who exactly is this guy?” Hun asks. The guy behind Jaehyun comes out. He’s a non-hybrid with dark brown hair cut above his eyes, a long face and nice eyebrows. And suddenly, Hun realizes he’s seen him before: it’s The Umbrella Guy.

“Lee Seunghyub,” Umbrella Guy says, offering his hand for a handshake.

Hun eyes Seunghyub’s hand skeptically. “Lemme get this straight: Seunghyub. You’re looking for band members?” Seunghyub nods. “And somehow Jaehyun found out and volunteered me to be the guitarist?” 

“Let me explain.” Jaehyun pipes up, “Seunghyub hyung is the Teacher’s Assistant for Advanced Music Theory, and during introductions the prof mentioned that he’s in a student band.”

“I clarified that I  _ used  _ to be. All my bandmates graduated last year. During the ten minute break, Jaehyun offered to be my drummer, if I wanted to start the band again,” Seunghyub adds.

“Now we just need a guitar player! Please, Hunnie?” Jaehyun pouts, “Pretty pretty please play guitar for us?”

“We need a guitar player  _ and  _ a bass player,” Seunghyub says, turning to Hun, “But I would honestly be super grateful if you would be willing to join.” 

“I’ll consider it,” Hun says.   
“GREAT!” Jaehyun says, tail wagging. “Let’s order some pizza, and then we can talk more over dinner!” Jaehyun just decides this, apparently.  
“Pizza good with you?” Hun asks Seunghyub.

“Yeah, definitely.”

They order a large pepperoni pizza, and Jaehyun offers to go pick it up. Hun lets him go, a bit overstimulated by Jaehyun’s constant energy. But then he’s left alone with Seunghyub, sitting awkwardly on the living room couch. Hun picks at the holes in his jeans. Seunghyub glances around the apartment aimlessly. Hun doesn’t know what to do. He didn’t think he would ever see The Umbrella Guy again, but here he is right on his couch. Hell, he might end up being in a band with The Umbrella Guy. Talk about the world being small. 

“Sorry Jaehyun left you alone with me, I know it’s kind of weird,” Seunghyub says.

“Jaehyun just runs few miles ahead at all times. I’m kind of used to it,” Hun says. 

“Oh, ok.”

“In the meantime, wait here a sec—” Hun gets off the couch and grabs Seunghyub’s umbrella from his room. He returns to the couch. “I think this is yours,” Hun says as he hands the umbrella over. Seunghyub’s eyes light up.

“Oh, you remembered!”

“You’re lucky Jaehyun dragged you here, or else you would’ve never gotten it back. Didn’t even leave me your name or anything.”

“Sorry, I was late for a meeting,” Seunghyub says.  
“Well, now it’s settled. Good to actually meet you, I guess.”

“Same to you.”

But now that Hun has returned the umbrella, he still doesn’t know what to do next. Goddamnit, why did he let Jaehyun go get the takeout? If Hun had gone, he could be away from Jaehyun  _ and  _ free of this awkwardness. 

“So, how long have you been playing guitar?” Seunghyub asks.

“Since like, middle school?” Hun replies, “I was maybe thirteen when I had a major Queen phase. Jaehyun saved up his allowance for a year to buy me my first electric guitar for my birthday, since he wanted to be able to play together.”

“Oh wow, that’s really sweet,” Seunghyub says, then pauses for a moment. “How long have you guys been dating?”

Hun nearly starts choking. “What? No, oh my god, we are  _ not  _ dating. Ew. We’re just childhood friends.”

“You live together, so I thought— sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.” Seunghyub is bright red. 

“It’s fine,” Hun says. “So, yeah, it’s been about six years? Guitar has always been just a hobby for me, though, unlike Jaehyun. He lives and breathes drumming. What about you?” 

“Me?”

“Yeah, Jaehyun said you’re a vocalist. Are you a music major like him? Do you play any instruments?”

“Music major with a philosophy minor. I can play the piano and guitar, but my real passion is writing music. So, I’d rather be able to write something cool for somebody else to play than just play it all by myself.”

“That’s cool,” Hun says. He doesn’t think he’s ever met someone so weirdly selfless. First, Seunghyub lends Hun his umbrella, now he’s talking about writing music for other people. 

“Oh, and I had a Queen phase too— what’s your favorite song?”

🐾

The first day of his second year at college, Hun leaves his afternoon class ready to go back to his apartment and not move for three hours. Jaehyun gets out of class for the day at 6pm, so they have dinner plans. And there is no way Hun is gonna do homework on the first day of classes, come on. But as Hun steps out of the Humanities building, the previously clear sky fills with grey clouds. A warm breeze blows and Hun smells rain. Fuck. Usually Hun carries an umbrella, since, in line with his feline traits, Hun  _ abhors _ getting wet. Hun watches as the sky opens up over campus and rain downpours in never ending droplets. Hun crosses his arms and huddles under the outcropping over the building’s entrance. A few students leave the building, popping open umbrellas or covering their heads with the hoods of their jackets. Hun stands there for ten minutes, but the storm doesn’t seem to be letting up. He shuffles back into the building, and stares out the window by the entrance. He takes out his phone and scrolls through twitter for a bit, but overall gets bored. He would text Jaehyun for help, but he’s across campus in the Music Department’s building. 

Hun watches the trees outside of the building bend in the wind. He glances over as a student enters the building. The guy is taller than him, kinda lanky with dark brown hair that falls just above his eyes. He is wearing a soft looking green sweater, and Hun’s instinct tells him to reach out and touch it but that is something he  _ is not  _ going to do because that would be weird as fuck. Hun turns his attention back to the window, but notices peripherally that the guy has pulled his umbrella shut, has shaken some of the water off, but has yet to move from the entrance. Then the guy moves towards him. 

“Uh, are you waiting for the rain to stop?” The guy asks. 

“Yeah, I forgot to bring an umbrella when I left my place this morning.” 

“You can borrow mine, if you want?” The guy holds said umbrella out to Hun.

“No, it’s fine, I can just wait,” Hun says, ears twitching. Who knows how long he would have to stand here if he does, though.

“I don’t mind getting wet, really. It’s better you keep your ears dry, right?” The guy basically shoves the umbrella into Hun’s hands and starts down the hallway.

“Wait-”

“You can give it back to me some other time!” The guy says, disappearing around a corner. 

“Uh,” Hun says to himself, staring at the umbrella in his hands. How is he supposed to give the umbrella back if he has no idea who that guy is? Hun considers running after the guy, but he does really want to go home. And who is he to look a gift horse in the mouth? It’s not like he asked for an umbrella, the guy insisted. Hun shrugs to himself, opens the umbrella and exits the building. As he walks home, he feels the wind in his ears. 

🐾


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hun and Seunghyub have a meltdown, Hweseung joins the band, N.Flying gets their name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay right after i dropped the first chapter, a video went around about how seunghyub screws up when they play word association games, and when they all had to do a pose when they heard "cha hun" 2idiots + hweseung all did air guitar but poor seunghyub did kitty paws ASHVFBKL i nearly fuckin lost it

After practice, the band gathers at the campus cafeteria. Hweseung eats an awful lot for a robin hybrid, and in half the time it takes for the rest of the group to finish eating, too. He sits across from Jaehyun with an empty plate, every now and then picking at the bits of tomato that fall out of Jaehyun’s taco. Hun pokes his salmon, watching Seunghyub munch on his second pork bun. 

“Hey,” Seunghyub says as he finishes a bite, “I’m getting something to drink, anybody want anything?”

“I’m good, thanks dude,” Jaehyun says. Hweseung shakes his head. Hun doesn’t reply. 

“Okay, I’ll be back in a second,” Seunghyub says. Hun watches him walk away. Hun sometimes wonders what kind of hybrid Seunghyub would be if he wasn’t just a human. Like when he was eating his pork buns, his cheeks were chubby like a chipmunk. He’s tall, almost giraffe-like. His voice is canine: he can growl like a dog or howl like a wolf. But maybe it’s so fun to make animal comparisons to Seunghyub precisely because he isn’t a hybrid. When you are a hybrid, animal comparisons are almost insulting.  _ Like yes, please focus on my inherent and unasked for animal traits while ignoring the fact that I am also a person, thank you _ . As a child, Hun was made fun of for being afraid of water. Kids typically avoided him because they were afraid he would scratch them. 

Seunghyub returns with two glasses. He sets one in front of Hun. 

“Coke,” Seunghyub says. Hun’s favorite. And if Hun wasn’t brooding right now, he totally would have asked for it. 

“Thanks,” Hun says. Because even though Hun is grumpy, Seunghyub did a nice thing and Hun has common decency. 

Seunghyub sits down and holds his third pork bun still in his hands. He sighs. “Look, I know you’re mad at me because I said you and I should swap guitars. It’s not that I didn’t think you could play. I was just worried about you.” Damnit. The Coke was a bribe. 

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Hun says, “I can take care of myself.” 

“You fell asleep mid-song, Hun,” Seunghyub says, accusingly, as if he’s Hun’s mother, or something. 

“If I practice, I can get over it,” Hun says. 

“Get over it?” Seunghyub drops his pork bun back on his plate. “It’s an involuntary reaction, you can’t control it!” At this point, Jaehyun gives in to Hweseung and hands him the remaining half of his taco. Hweseung picks the chicken out of the taco before devouring it.  
  
“I have to!” Hun’s grip on his fork tightens. “It’s a weakness.” If Hun wasn’t a cat hybrid, he wouldn’t fall asleep playing bass, which means it’s an inherent weakness, and he won’t be respected as a person if he succumbs to it. 

“It’s okay to have weaknesses,” Seunghyub says. 

“No,” Hun says, stabbing the salmon on his plate, “It’s not. You wouldn’t get it, hyung, you’re not a hybrid.”

Seunghyub purses his lips. “You’re right. I’m not,” he states curtly. He gets up from the table and leaves, taking his half-finished pork bun and soda with him. 

The minute Seunghyub leaves, Jaehyun turns to Hun. “Dude.” Jaehyun says. 

“What?” Hun snaps.  
  
“Don’t you think that was a little harsh, Hyung?” Hweseung asks. He has a piece of shredded cheese stuck below his lips. 

“Well, was I wrong? He’s not a hybrid, so he doesn’t know what it’s like to be dehumanized on sight.” 

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what it’s like to be judged,” Hweseung says. 

“Yeah,” Jaehyun says, “He was just trying to help you, and you totally chewed him out.” 

“I-”  _ I didn’t mean to,  _ Hun wants to say.  _ I didn’t mean to hurt him.  _ But the words turn to dust in his mouth. 

🐾

Only a week after Hun and Jaehyun agree to revive Seunghyub’s band, Jaehyun drags a robin hybrid to their afternoon practice. He’s a cute little guy with bright orange hair and squishy cheeks. Tucked into his ripped jeans is a black short sleeve t-shirt, which accentuates his surprisingly muscular biceps, and from the elbow down his arms are covered in brown feathers. 

“Guys, we gotta let him join the band,” Jaehyun pleads. Jaehyun’s neck-long, kinda shaggy brown hair is stuck wet to his forehead, like he just took a shower. He’s wearing a purple t-shirt under half-unbuttoned overalls. 

Seunghyub looks to the robin hybrid, “What’s your name?” 

“Yoo Hweseung,” he responds. 

“What year are you?” 

“First year.”

“What instrument do you play?” 

“Ah, that’s the thing—” Jaehyun butts in, “I think Hweseung should join as a singer.”

Hun frowns. “We already have a singer.”

“Okay, but I heard Hweseung singing in the shower at the gym, and he’s really good.”

“ _You_ were at the gym?” Hun asks. That would explain the wet hair. Jaehyun is the person (aside from himself) that Hun would have least expected to be a gym-goer. But a gym visit also explains why Jaehyun didn’t come home between classes today.   
  
“That’s not the point!” 

Seunghyub addresses Hweseung, “Do you want to join our band? Or did you just let Jaehyun drag you here?”

“Well, at first Jaehyun dragged me here,” Hweseung begins. Jaehyun’s puppy eyes get teary with betrayal. “But, I do love to sing. And being a business major, I’ve been worried about keeping up my vocal practice. I think being in a band would be fun! Oh, but just because singing is a hobby for me, that doesn’t mean I don’t take it seriously, okay?” Hweseung’s smile reaches his eyes.

“Let’s hear you sing a bit,” Seunghyub says.  
  
“Alright! You okay with anything?”  
  
“Do the song you were singing in the shower!” Jaehyun demands.  
  
“SHINee? Sure.” Hweseung sings the first few bars of “Replay”. It’s a hard song to sing by yourself, and he does it well. Could be a little stronger, but Hun’s one to talk. Hun’s singing voice is perpetually at whisper level. 

“Okay, you’re in,” Seunghyub says. 

“Yes!” Jaehyun pumps his fist. He pats Hweseung on the back. 

“So now we’re a band with two singers and no bassist? Excellent.” Hun says. 

“If need be, you or I could play the bass, right?” Seunghyub says.  
  
“Yeah, I guess.” Hun is reluctant to play the bass. He can do it in theory, but every time he has practiced has ended in bass vibration-induced naptime. 

“Honestly?” Hweseung says, “Having two singers could be a drawing point for us, a concept.”  
  
“A concept?” Hun asks. 

“Yeah, I mean with two singers we could have basically built-in live harmonies.” 

“That would be so fucking cool!” Jaehyun says. 

“Well, before we think about performing live, we need to practice.” Seunghyub says. “Hwesung, can you send me your class schedule?

🐾

The first time they perform live as a group, it’s on a street corner to a crowd of three girls who are waiting for the bus. Hun has his guitar plugged into a small amp and they have one speaker that outputs both Seunghyub and Hweseung’s mics. Jaehyun sits on a cajón set up with a bass pedal in front of it so he can control hitting it with his feet. He has a snare drum and hi-hat. They play one song Seunghyub wrote called “Rooftop”, then Queen’s “Radio Gaga”, and Blackpink’s “Playing with Fire”. Although the girls were basically forced to listen, they clapped after every song, and by the end, about ten people were actively watching them play. 

“Okay guys, if we’re gonna keep busking in the future, we’re gonna need a band name,” Jaehyun brings up the next time they practice. 

“Yeah, did your band not have a name before?” Hun asks Seunghyub.

“Well, we did have a name, but I figured it wouldn’t be right to use the same one, since with you guys, it’s a completely new band.”

“Sounds fair,” Hweseung says. 

“New…” Jaehyun says, “Maybe that could be part of the name?”

“New? New what?” Hun asks. They spitball ideas. New Sound. New Deal. New Shoes. 

“Well, maybe we don’t have to be so literal,” Seunghyub says. “What do we want our music to make people feel?”

“Happy?” Jaehyun says, “New Happy…”

“What about Content?” Hun says, “It would have an interesting double meaning, ‘New Content’.” 

“That’s not bad,” Seunghyub says. “Do you have any ideas, Hweseung?”

“I want our audience to feel like they’re flying,” Hweseung says. 

“New Flying?” Jaehyun tests out. 

“That doesn’t make any sense, though,” Hun says. 

“Well, what if we abbreviated part of it. Say ‘flying’ is the most important part, since it’s how we want people to feel. ‘New’ just describes the flying sensation, so we could shorten it to ‘N’,” Seunghyub says.

“N.Flying?” Hun says.  
  
“N.Flying!” Hwesung repeats. 

🐾

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!  
> i hope the reasoning for their name wasn't super out-there... please comment and let me know what you think about this fic! (although I love this au and think about it constantly, comments motivate me to actually write it down lol)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaehyun watches Frozen, N.Flying start trying to recruit a bassist, Hun begins making amends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to N.Flying Seo Dongsung!! I started trying to get this chapter out on Jan. 1 to celebrate, but as you can see, it took me a little while... ^v^'' Very excited to see where N.Flying will take off to in 2020 :) Happy New Year everybody!

A few days after Hun and Seunghyub’s “Cafeteria Conflict” (as Jaehyun and Hweseung start calling it) Hun starts to notice Seunghyub avoiding him outside of practice. When they get food after practice, Seunghyub doesn’t say a word to Hun. In their group chat, Seungyub doesn’t reply to Hun. Hun passes Seunghyub in the Humanities building on his way to his Victorian Literature Class, but when they make eye contact, Seunghyub looks away.

“I don’t even know what I did!” Hun groans, flopping on the couch after class, dramatically draping his arm over his face. Jaehyun is sitting on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, plowing through a bag of BBQ chips.  _ Frozen  _ is playing on the TV.

“You were stubborn and snappy when he was just being considerate,” Jaehyun says, “that’s what you did.” Hun dangles a hand off the edge of the couch and steals one of Jaehyun’s chips. As he pulls his hand out of the bag, Jaehyun pretends to bite it. Hun’s used to Jaehyun’s play biting, but he pulls away a little faster—Jaehyun is harmless, but his canines aren’t. “You prefer playing guitar, anyway. I don’t know why you pitched such a fit over the bass.”

“It’s the principle of the thing.” Hun shoves the chip in his mouth. “Yeah, I can do without playing the bass. But that shouldn’t mean I  _ can’t  _ play the bass, even when I want to.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to be a butt about it,” Jaehyun says. 

Hun scoffs and steals another chip. The beginning notes to “Let it Go” start playing as, on the TV screen, Elsa scales a mountain alone. “Dude, did you put on Frozen just to spite me or something?”

Jaehyun’s eyes widen. He smiles real big. Hun hears his tail thumping against the floor. “Oh my god, that would’ve been so funny! Telling you to “let it go”, right, dude? Oh my god!” He turns back to the TV, face completely straight. “Nah, I just wanted to see Olaf.”

Hun snorts. “Okaaay.” They sit in silence for a bit, munching on chips. Hun just wants Seunghyub to talk to him again. He gets that Seunghyub was just trying to help him out, because Seunghyub is thoughtful to a fault. “Look, I’m over it already. I get that he was looking out for me. But I haven’t tried playing the bass at practice since, and he still won’t talk to me. I don’t know why.”

“Have you apologized?” Jaehyun asks.

“No,” Hun groans.  
  
“Maybe try that first.”

🐾

A week after the ‘Cafeteria Conflict,’ Hun still hasn’t apologized. Seunghyub shows up to Tuesday practice with a box full of flyers. They have a geometric background and are gaudy, each shape colored either orange, pink, or blue. In bold black text is the phrase ‘BAND SEEKING BASSIST’. In smaller print: ‘College band N.Flying seeking regular bassist. Must be able to attend practice Tues-Thurs 3pm. If interested, contact lee.seunghyub@ymail.com.’

“Practice is cancelled today, guys,” Seunghyub says, “instead, I want to start spreading these around.” 

“Aw heck yeah, some progress.” Jaehyun says.

“We’ll be a full band in no time!” Hweseung chirps. 

“If this flyer campaign even works,” Hun says, “With our luck, nobody will email us back.” 

“Don’t say that, dude!” Jaehyun claps Hun on the shoulder. “If this doesn’t work, I’ll hunt someone down for us, no problem!”

“Just because that worked for me doesn’t mean it’ll work again,” Hweseung laughs.

“We have to have some hope,” Seunghyub says, “Let’s split into pairs. I’ll go with Jaehyun and Hweseung and Hun can go together.” Hun’s sure Seunghyub is avoiding him again. He knows Jaehyun tires Seunghyub out sometimes, so it’s unusual for Seunghyub to deliberately choose to pair up with him. 

“Actually,” Jaehyun starts, “I think you should go with-”  
  
“Sounds good to me!” Hweseung says, basically pushing Seunghyub and Jaehyun out the door. 

“Hey, we’ll meet back here at five, okay?” Seunghyub says.

“Got it!” Hweseung replies. Hun, holding a pile of flyers, watches Seunghyub and Jaehyun go. Hweseung comes over to him and steals half the pile. “Jaehyun was trying to get Seunghyub to go with you, and I don’t think you’re ready for that.” 

“Uh, ready for what?” Hun asks.

Hweseung ignores his question. “The two of them are probably going to just stand outside the music building, right? So let’s go to the library— somewhere a lot of people will pass by.” 

“Right…”

“Let’s get a move on, then. I’m an early bird, so I’ll be getting the worm.” Hweseung winks.

“Is the worm in this case a new bassist?”  
  
“Well, duh.”

When they reach the square in front of the library, Hweseung starts screeching: “DO YOU PLAY THE BASS? COME JOIN OUR BAND!” Some meek students ignore him and speed walk past, some allow Hun to shove flyers into their hands. Eventually, Hweseung gets into a rhythm of passing flyers and chatting. “So, Seunghyub-hyung is still avoiding you.” 

“Uh, yeah.”

“To be fair, I don’t think it’s all you,” Hweseung says, “The music department’s semester-end performance is coming up, and as a senior, he’s probably pulling a lot of weight making sure it goes smoothly.” 

That’s right. Jaehyun was preparing for the performance, too. Hun had heard him practicing drum beats on hardcover books for days. “But I still made him upset somehow,” Hun says. “I know I was kind of an asshole arguing against his help, but I thought things would have blown over by now.”

“Have you tried, I dunno, apologizing?” Hweseung asks, handing a flyer to a student with a smile. Hweseung is almost out, so Hun gives him a handful of flyers off his stack.  
“No, but how I am supposed to talk to him when he keeps avoiding me?”

“This is where your social awkwardness comes in handy. Just text him. Let him know you want to apologize, and even if he doesn’t reply, you can at least assume he’ll read it.”

“Apologizing over text is easier, but doesn’t it seem insincere?” 

“‘Course it does. But the text is not gonna be your actual apology. It’s just the opening.”

“I guess.”

Hweseung snorts. “Not ‘I guess’, say ‘yes, of course.’ You guys are so emotionally constipated.” There’s a bit of a lull in foot traffic, so Hweseung checks his phone. “Damn, it’s already 4:47. We should probably head back.”

Hun nods and follows Hweseung. Just as they re-enter the music building, Hweseung stops.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“One last thing. As much as we are all friends, we’re also bandmates. And the longer this draws out, the more it’s going to affect our sound. We want to be N.Flying, yeah? So we have to make sure we’re stable enough for take off.” He smiles. “Things’ll turn out ok, alright? Jaehyun and I got your back.” 

Hun smiles back. “Yeah, thanks.”

🐾

Hun and Jaehyun bust through their apartment door around 7pm. After handing out flyers, the band went out for a quick bite to eat, then went their separate ways. After taking their coats and shoes off and putting equipment away, Hun and Jaehyun settle at the kitchen table to do homework. They have their own desks in their rooms, but Hun knows Jaehyun doesn’t really like to do anything alone, so unless Jaehyun has to tap out some rhythms that’ll definitely distract Hun from his reading, they study together. Hun cracks open his copy of  _ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  _ while Jaehyun pours over his Music Theory textbook with a pile of staff paper. Hun keeps his phone screen-down on the table while he’s reading. It buzzes once, and he checks it, greeted with a picture of Hweseung’s Statistics homework and a sobbing emoji. He snorts. Jaehyun’s pencil scratches frantically on his paper. Hun sees Seunghyub reply in the group chat with a “lmao”. Hweseung replies again with a frowning emoji. 

Hun taps to his message history with Seunghyub. The last message from Seunghyub was a week ago. He sent a picture of a bag of shrimp flavored chips captioned  _ “Jealous?” _ Hun replied:  _ “Yesss” _ , and then Seunghyub brought him a bag of shrimp chips at practice. Hun’s heart sinks in his chest. That was such a great practice before he picked up the bass. He starts to type out a message:  _ “hey, i wanted to apologize for snapping at u last week i was being dumb.”  _ He deletes part of it.  _ “hey i wanted to apologize for snapping at u last week. i know u were just trying to help me and it was rude of me to ignore u. ill try not to be so stubborn from now on ok?”  _ Hun read through the message a few times. This should be fine, right? He apologized, acknowledged what he did wrong, and has a plan to correct it. He just has to follow through. Hun hits send. The message marks “read” a minute later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! pls feel free to comment, i'd love to know what you think! comments keep me motivated lol


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